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Friday, April 4, 2008

Santacruzan (The Queen of Filipino Festivals)

Filipinos love fiestas. They are celebrated all-year round. All over the country, especially in the summer months, May is the merriest and the time beautiful month of the year. It is the season of colorful festivals and Flores de Mayo or Santacruzan is one such festival.

Santacruzan is held annually in the warm month of May and is considered to be the “Queen of Filipino Festivals.” Beautiful town belles are selected to participate in this colorful pageant parade. The stars are selected not for the looks alone, but for their embodiment of traditional feminine qualities. It is a week-long street pageant in almost every town, from the dirt road to the metropolis honoring beautiful Philippine maidens and their hands escorts under the hand-carried bamboo arches adorned by fragrant native flowers.

May is also the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. Filipinos turn each of the 31 days in May into a charming tribute to the virginal virtues in Flores de Mayo – the flowers of May fiesta. Spiritual virtue seeks to reach even the young. Every day in May, children, will carry flowers and baskets of petals in hand, march down the church center aisle. As the children march down the aisle they sprinkle the fragrant petals for Mama Mary. This custom is called “alay sa Birhen.” In Filipino, because it is an offering (alay) to the virgin (birhen), at the main altar, the youngsters sing hymns to Lady Immaculate, and leave their bouquet of flowers loose.

The festivity commemorates the search of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena (Reina Elena) and her son, the newly converted emperor Constantine. The Holy Cross was found in Jerusalem and brought back to Rome. There was a joyful celebration for thanksgiving.

Nine days of prayer (a novena) in honor of the Holy Cross precedes the Flores de Mayo or Santacruzan. This festival was introduced by the Spaniards in the Philippines and has since become part of Filipino tradition identified with youth, love and romance.

This colorful pageant parade is arranged in this order:

1. Methuselah – he is bearded, bent with age, riding a cart looking preoccupied with toasting some grains of sand in a pan over a fire. This is a reminder that all that glitters will end up as dust like what he is toasting.

2. Reina Bandera – a young lady dressed in a long red gown carrying yellow triangular flag. She represents the coming of Christianity.

3. Aetas – represent the state of the country before the coming of Christianity. These are the uncovered Filipino pagans.

8. Reina Abogada – the defender of the poor and the oppressed. She wears a black graduation cap (toga) and gown and she carries a big book.

9. Reina Sentenciada – has her slim hands bound by a rope. She is the symbol of the innocents who have been convicted. She is accompanied by two Roman soldiers.

10. Reina Justicia – a personification of the “mirror of justice.” She carries a weighing scale and a sword.

11. Reina Judith – representing Judith of Pethulia who saved her city from the Assyrians after she beheaded the cruel holoferns. She carries the head of the beheaded man on one hand and a sword on the other.

12. Reina Sheba – who visited the famed King Solomon and was overwhelmed by his wisdom, power and richness. She carries a jewelry box.

13. Reina Esther – the biblical Jewish who spared her countrymen from death and destruction through timely intervention with the King Xerxes. She carries a scepter.

14. Samaritana – the woman who Christ spoke to at the well. She carries a jug on her shoulder.

15. Veronica – the woman who wiped the face of Jesus. She carries a bandana imprinted with the three faces of Jesus.

16. Tres Marias:

Mary Magdala – she carries a bottle of perfume.Mary, mother of Christ – she carries a handkerchief.Mary, mother of James – she carries a bottle of oil.

17. Marian – celebrating the many titles of the Virgin Mary.

a. A-V-E, M-A-R-I-A – represented by eight (8) girls all wearing long white dresses with wings to make them look like angles. Each one carries a letter to complete the word “AVE MARIA.”

Alter the processión there is a pabitin that serves as a culminating activity for all the children to enjoy. Pabitin is a square trellis where goodies (candy, fruits, etc.) are hung by strings. This trellis in turn is tied to a rope and is suspended on a strong branch or pole. The children gather under the trellis and they jump as high as then can to try to pick the goodies as the trellis is lowered to them while someone pulls it up and down repeatedly until all the goodies are gone.

Note: For the Santacruzan to be more exciting, the chosen Reina Elena is kept secret until the day of the parade to surprise the people. It is requested that male members attending the Santacruzan wear Barong Tagalog and the women wear any Filipino costumes, if available.